Free Republic

Republicans Pay Tribute at ‘Tea Party’ Movie Premiere Members of Congress Mingle With Activists at D.C. Film Debut By David Weigel 12/3/09 10:08 AM Presenters at the premiere of "Tea Party: The Documentary Film" Wednesday in Washington (Photo: David Weigel) Getting into Wednesday’s Washington, D.C., premiere of “Tea Party: The Documentary Film” meant walking through a steady rain into the Ronald Reagan building, a sprawling downtown trade and convention center where the economic conservative group FreedomWorks, which helped organize a number of Tea Party protests, had rented a foyer and a sizable auditorium. The stars of the film relaxed and...

WASHINGTON - Republican lawmakers piled on the Obama administration Tuesday - and Democratic leaders were miffed - over a Web site that reported thousands of jobs nationwide in congressional districts that don't exist. In South Carolina, www.recovery.gov reported $40.7 million in economic-stimulus money had gone to seven nonexistent congressional districts - including District 00 and District 25. South Carolina only has six U.S. House districts, Nos. 1-6. The Web site, the official federal online portal for tracking distributions from the $787 billion stimulus program, compounded the error by saying 46 jobs - 46.4, to be exact - have been "saved...

Dis gustin' Cease all those donations to Joe Wilson.

With local Republicans trying to censure Lindsey Graham over his apostasy on, in particular, energy and climate issues, the state's highest-profile conservative is standing by him.

Does Joe Wilson or any of his colleagues on the Hill care about the Constitution? I participated in a conference call last Friday with Representative Joe Wilson (R, SC) who wanted to rally the troops against Pelosi's healthcare bill. He also talked of Afghanistan, as well. But I think he made a revealing comment about the Constitution that distresses me. Rep. Wilson started off his comments with his condolences to the families of the victims of the criminal actions at Fort Hood which had only recently happened at the time. “As a 21-year veteran of the military myself with three...

<p>FROM THE ROAD IN AUSTIN, TX – The Tea Party Express (website: http://www.TeaPartyExpress.com) continues crossing the nation, thus far drawing tens of thousands to tea party rallies railing against government-run healthcare and a myriad of other issues.</p> <p>The national tour will explode this Tuesday, November 10th at 3:30 PM when Congressman Joe Wilson will headline a Tea Party Express rally in Beaufort, South Carolina.  Supporters are being invited from across the nation to attend the Beaufort, SC rally.</p>

Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats in the House are about to pass possibly the worst piece of legislation ever to come out of Washington and force it on the general public of America. The 2009 House version of Health Care Reform for the country. Take note of the word reform, because it actually means takeover, as in government takeover of the health care industry. This is the bill from Hell! Almost 2000 pages of legislative language that glosses over, covers up, and side steps every major issue and concern that has been brought out in the debate....

Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is proposing the requirement to draw attention to the plan's alleged flaws. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson proposed an amendment Wednesday that would force all members of Congress to receive health insurance coverage through the government-run plan proposed in the House's reform bill. Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," the South Carolina gadfly -- who gained notoriety for shouting "you lie" at President Obama during his address to Congress two months ago -- is proposing the requirement to draw attention to what he sees as the plan's flaws. "They...

November 04, 2009 Joe Wilson Proposes Forcing Congress Onto Government Health Insurance Plan Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is proposing the requirement to draw attention to the plan's alleged flaws. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson proposed an amendment Wednesday that would force all members of Congress to receive health insurance coverage through the government-run plan proposed in the House's reform bill. Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," the South Carolina gadfly -- who gained notoriety for shouting "you lie" at President Obama during his address to Congress two months ago -- is proposing the...

Republican Rep. Joe Wilson proposed an amendment Wednesday that would force all members of Congress to receive health insurance coverage through the government-run plan proposed in the House's reform bill.

Former vice president Richard B. Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he could not remember playing any role in leaking the identity of Valerie Plame as a clandestine CIA officer, according to FBI records released under court order Friday. In his May 8, 2004, interview with Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, Cheney said he could not recall when he learned that Plame, the wife of Iraq war critic Joseph C. Wilson IV, worked for the CIA; could not recall telling his chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, about Plame's employment; and could not recall telling Libby to disclose...

Rep. Joe Wilson's wife Roxanne has been diagnosed with swine flu, the congressman's office confirmed to CNN on Thursday. The South Carolina Republican who gained instant notoriety in September for shouting "You lie!" at the president told The Hill newspaper on Thursday that he plans to keep his distance from his wife when he returns home this weekend. Wilson said he plans to get the H1N1 vaccination soon, but only after "the majority of the American people" receive it.

The words "you lie!" earned Joe Wilson a resolution of disapproval on the House floor last month. But the outburst has certainly had its upside, netting him $2.7 million in third quarter political donations -- with most of the money raised after his Sept. 9 outburst, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Thursday evening. Wilson's $2.7 million quarter is a fundraising anomaly -- better than many Senate candidates and even some presidential candidates could hope for. Democrats hope a simultaneous fundraising boost for Wilson’s challenger, Rob Miller, will position him to make a viable run next November. But Wilson’s...

Pulling off a double-parody can be a daunting enterprise, but this one makes a laudable (and humorous) effort to spoof both Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” and Obama’s Nobel Peace Rhetoric Prize. The author proclaims that she was inspired by Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC). Video: Obamanizer

South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson has raised $2.7 million in an outpouring of conservative support that followed his shouting "You lie!" at President Obama during a joint session of Congress and facing fierce attacks from Democrats as a result, a source close to his campaign told POLITICO. Wilson's fundraising offers a glimpse at the energy burning in the conservative grass roots — and the appetite there for confrontation: He raised the money from more than 50,000 people, with an average contribution of $53.49, in the third quarter. He'll report $2.6 million on hand in the filing period.

Last Tuesday, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which is the non-partisan "research arm" of the United States Congress, issued a report that concludes that illegal aliens will be able to receive benefits under the House health care bill (H.R. 3200) through two major loopholes. (See CRS Report and FAIR Press Release, August 26, 2009). According to its own website, CRS is a legislative branch agency that provides Congress with "policy and legal analysis" that is authoritative, objective and accurate. (CRS website). The latest CRS report validates what FAIR has been saying for the past month and a half — that...

Congressman Joe Wilson’s “You Lie!” charge against President Barack Obama has elicited a curious response from various figures – that Wilson’s action both comes from and evidences racism. Perhaps New York Times’ Maureen Dowd made the most provocative allegation while former President Jimmy Carter couldn’t resist the opportunity to top it off with his own contention that racism underlies many whites’ criticism of President Barack Obama. This is not to ignore similar utterances from such less relevant voices as Janeane Garofalo that restate the racist charge with no support other than an attitude of arrogant certainty. These very accusations cover...

WASHINGTON--A federal judge said the Federal Bureau of Investigation must publicly reveal much of its interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency operative. The FBI interviewed Mr. Cheney in June 2004 as it was investigating the leak of Valerie Plame's identity after her husband criticized the Bush administration. Both the Bush and Obama administrations said they wanted to keep the interview confidential because future vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if it became public.

Well well well... Here's the smoking gun PROVING that Joe Wilson was right and that Obama LIED. And best of all, it comes from that esteemed organization that Leftists and Marxists love to hold up as the epitome of impartiality, the Congressional Research Service. Enough lead in, here's the smoking gun. Please see page 4 of the document (PDF page 7), the section entitled "Exchange". Specifically, these words: H.R. 3200 does not contain any restrictions on noncitzens—whether legally or illegally present, or in the United States temporarily or permanently—participating in the Exchange. Given this, Mr. President, Madame Speaker, I hereby...

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to release notes and summaries of former Vice President Dick Cheney's 2004 interview with Special Prosecutor Pat Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case, but is allowing the deletion of what may be some of the most interesting details in the documents. In a ruling issued Thursday morning, Judge Emmet Sullivan flatly rejected claims by both Bush and Obama appointees at DOJ that the entirety of the records should be withheld because their disclosure could discourage White House officials from cooperating in future investigations. The judge said the prospect of such inquiries was...

Tuesday night, Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida, a Democrat representing the state's 8th district, which includes the cities of Orlando, Eustis and Ocala, took to the floor of the House of Representatives armed with an easel and three posters to deliver his interpretation of the Republican's health care reform plan. Printed on the three posters were the individual points of the "very simple" Republican plan, according to Rep. Alan Grayson. They were: 1. Don't Get Sick 2. And If You Do Get Sick ... 3. Die Quickly Needless to say, Rep. Grayson's biting floor speech didn't go over well with...

This week, we revisit the issue of race in the US, as it remains a hot topic here for the second week running. No wise man should touch America’s dirty secret unless he is forced to by severe provocation and there is no way out. The outburst by South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson in the combined houses of Congress, and his uncalled for remark aimed at President Barack Obama: “You lie,” has brought the dirty secret out into the public. In my case, Brother Boston sought to refute my remarks by arguing that my very successful career in the US...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis is paying the price for independent thinking. Inglis, a Travelers Rest Republican, might have been the only Republican lawmaker in the country booed lustily by his own constituents at town hall meetings last month.Inglis was shouted down when he asked listeners why they're afraid of President Barack Obama - and then suggested they stop watching conservative TV commentator Glenn Beck."He's trading on fear," Inglis advised one group, setting off loud catcalls. Despite a broadly conservative voting record, Inglis has angered many GOP activists with his contrarian stands on a handful of high-profile issues. In...

AIKEN, S.C. (AP) The South Carolina congressman who gained national attention for shouting "you lie" at President Obama during a speech to Congress will attend a Republican rally in Aiken. The Aiken Standard reports the Saturday rally will be held at the Republican Party headquarters in Aiken. Some have called the event a fundraiser and a show of support for Wilson. Aiken County Councilman Scott Singer called the rally awkward. He said he didn't want the rally to appear to support of Wilson's outburst. Wilson's shout at the president came after Obama said that extending health care to all Americans...

GOP is using the newfound fame of the lawmaker who shouted "You lie!" at President Barack Obama to raise money for GOP candidates around the country. Although party leaders initially called Rep. Joe Wilson's presidential insult disrespectful and unacceptable, fundraisers have apparently decided his outburst can be an asset. Wilson, a previously obscure South Carolina Republican, is slated to appear at a fundraiser next month for Tim Walberg, a former Michigan Republican congressman. Attendees can get a photo with Wilson for $150. He is soliciting money for statehouse Republicans in Virginia, and this week the GOP's national fundraising arm sent...

Have you seen this article For the Black Caucus, New Power and an Urgency in Using It? Seems to me like that's exactly what the WaPo came dangerously close to admitting to.

I was part of a small number of bloggers and Internet writers invited to speak with Representative Joe Wilson (R, SC) Friday afternoon. Rep. Wilson wanted to alert us all to a resolution that would provide that all bills that go through the House of Representatives would be posted on the Internet for 72 hours prior to any possibility of a floor vote. The Resolution is House Res. 554, amending the Rules of the House to require legislation and conference reports to be available on the Internet 72 hours before consideration. If this resolution is approved by the members of...

Dear Madame Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, I apologized to President Obama for my "you lie" outburst during his recent speech. The President immediately accepted my apology. Yet you and nearly all members of your party in the House of Representatives demanded that I make yet another apology from the floor of the House. I refused and then received an admonishment by resolution -- passed almost completely down party lines. Now it's your turn, Madame Speaker. I invite you and others in your party to apologize publicly to former President George W. Bush for vicious, personal and frequently race-based...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A top black pro-life advocate says there is nothing racist about opposing the health care plans pending in Congress because they force taxpayers to finance abortions. Dr. Alveda King is responding to critics who say such opposition is racist and point to the outburst from Rep. Joe Wilson. During President Barack Obama's health care speech two weeks ago, Wilson shouted "You lie," as Obama ticked off a list of complaints about the bills he thought were false. The Wilson comment has prompted some political observers to suggest that opposition to the three main bills -- HR...

ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- The Bolen and Elmore homes, three blocks apart in opposite directions off Columbia Road in this small city, could not seem more alike. Both are simple brick ranch-style houses occupied by retired couples, the men former police officers, who spend hours a day in dark dens where cigarette smoke wafts beneath the whirl of ceiling fans. Inside the hush of these rooms, however, their differences become clear. Columbia Road is a long and narrow country highway that serves as the border between the congressional districts of Rep. Joe Wilson, a white Republican who heckled President Obama during...

The chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly and member of the Republican Central Committee, Ivan Marte, says he has quit the GOP because he was embarrassed by South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Obama’s address to Congress on September 9th. Wilson shouted “You lie,” when President Obama said illegal immigrants would not receive benefits under his health care plan. Ivan Marte tells The Providence Journal that Wilson’s behavior was “shameful” and “uncivilized.” Rep. Ivan Marte Resigns Over Joe Wilson Truth!

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly and member of the Republican Central Committee says he has quit the GOP because he was embarrassed by South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's address to Congress on Sept. 9.

All around were satanic representations of President Barack Obama in whiteface, as a Nazi, an African witch doctor, a Marxist, a Muslim, and Che Guevara’s best friend—but Kathy Golya had never felt so good about the new administration as she did right now. It was a day after Representative Joe Wilson’s outburst in Congress, and the South Carolina congressman had given voice to Golya’s inner heart. He hadn’t just said it on the Internet, he had said it to the president himself. No, it was not the appropriate place, Golya said, but still she glowed with the memory. “It was...

... Many in the media have insinuated that tea parties are fueled by racism or even that the steady drop in Obama’s approval ratings are due to racist undertones in debates about healthcare. Yet, do not forget it was the very same TV stations, newspapers and columnists who constantly reminded us during the election that Barack Obama had a black father from Kenya... ...Yet, as a public consciousness, we are expected to suddenly forget President Bush hung in effigy, vehement anti-religious rhetoric of some on the far left and the sexist attacks launched on Sarah Palin by the Obama campaign...

Jimmy Carter has always been one to speak bluntly – irritatingly so, to some of his critics. Even at 84, the former president continues to show his willingness to raise the most indelicate topics, often at the most inopportune time. This time, the topic is race and, more specifically, the racism that underlies some of the ugliest, most vociferous criticism of President Obama. "I think people that are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by the belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African-American," Carter...

DEMOCRATS in the House of Representatives, with the support of only a handful of Republicans this week voted to formally rebuke Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.) for shouting, "You lie!" during President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9. Mr. Wilson's outburst came after the President said illegal immigrants were not included in his health-care plan. This was a mistake. Mr. Wilson was rude, as he said in his apology later that night: "This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants...

Who took to the streets of Washington in the thousands, marching and demanding political change? Was it Progressives for Obama, or perhaps it was members of Moveon. The correct answer is neither of the above. Nowadaysthe only Americans who can be counted on to take to the streets or shout down presidents in righteous indignation are right-wingers. Progressives are smacked down time and again, but like hostages in Stockholm or kidnapped school girls, they believe that their survival depends on loving the abuser. The Right shows far more eagerness for a fight than the hapless Left, or what remains of...

222 years ago 39 delegates gathered in the city of Philadelphia to sign Constitution of the United States of America. On September 17, 1787 our Founding Fathers created the greatest and freest nation on the face of the earth. I find it extremely ironic that the House of Representatives decided this week to limit free speech on the floor. Their actions this week were in response to South Carolina Congressman, Joe Wilson, calling out “You Lie!” during President Obama’s speech last week before a joint session of Congress. Wilson immediately apologized after the speech for his outburst.

Here is a line by line transcript of President Obama's speech on healthcare, made before a joint session of Congress, on 9 September 2009. This particular transcript was pulled from the www.whitehouse.gov site. I have started labelling each line with "true" or "false" or "okay" or "n/a" or whatever. Have at it: okay 1 THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, and the American people: FALSE 2 When I spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. FALSE 3 We were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month....

There are seven words that you can’t say on television, that’s the old George Carlin comedy shtick. And apparently there are six things that Congressman and women can’t do in the House they are the following: • call the President a “liar.” • call the President a “hypocrite.” • describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.” • charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.” • refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.” • refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.” Even if some or all of the above is true...

The election of Barack Obama was supposed to be the bright new dawn of a post-racial America. His swearing in on the steps of Washington's Capitol building seemed to represent a historical watershed, a full stop at the end of a chapter in United States history that included segregation and slavery. So what has gone wrong with America since that frigid January day? Turn on the news now and we are assailed with reports of disgracefully racist placards being carried at anti-Obama rallies nominally billed as opposition to health-care reform. A virulent campaign by the so-called "Birthers" is being waged,...

"Say what you will, but former president Jimmy Carter is too old to lie. At 85, he's seen the best and worst of human nature. So, when he says the "You lie!" shouted at President Obama during his address to Congress last week was "based on racism," he is speaking with wisdom."

It is strange to see Democrats and their supporters persist in their efforts — indeed, even intensify them — to equate Obama's failing legislative initiatives, his dive in the polls, and the rise of protests against him with racism. Polls reveal that it is not just a losing tactic, but an enormously self-destructive one for Democrats. To make the argument, they would have to prove three points. And so far they have not even come close: 1) Uniquely vicious? Is the anger against Obama different from what we have seen leveled against presidents in the past? Americans not only know...

The lack of respect for President Obama is bigotry and intolerance in its purest form. The debates about health care and education are defining the role of the far right-wing media in U.S. society. How did Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and other so-called journalist and broadcasters in mainstream media get it so wrong? What the conservative media and many elected officials on the “right”are doing is easy to understand. The right continues to disseminate their false arguments as facts over the airwaves. They, along with many conservative Republicans and some members of the Democratic Party, are...

Let’s all raise a toast to the man who, more than any other, represents the face of all that is mean, small, ignorant, bigoted, and petty in the United States of America circa 2009: Representative Joe Wilson. At this point, the entire world has seen his picture: Mouth gaping, lips turned downwards in a derisive sneer, eyes blazing with dumb-animal fury as he bellowed two immortal words at the President of the United States. “You lie.”

The Sun News, a McClatchy owned paper in Myrtle Beech, South Carolina, was excited to tell its readers that the state’s tourism officials were getting “flooded” with emails from folks upset and threatening to cancel future vacations in South Carolina. What raised the ire of these emailers was the behavior of Representative Joe Wilson (R, SC) who called out that Obama was a liar during the president’s healthcare speech delivered before a joint session of Congress last week. In its first two paragraphs, the Sun News made it seems as if an avalanch of folks had emailed state officials expressing...

Jimmy Carter is a fool. That may not be the most civil of descriptions, but it is the most fitting one. Sometimes it’s more important to be factually correct than to be politically so. Carter’s statement that Rep. Wilson is a “racist” for calling out Barack Obama on a mistruth is as troubling as the needless and petty resolution passed by his party, if not more so. And in making that statement, Jimmy Carter brings hypocrisy to a new art form. Carter’s tactic is as dangerous as it is shameful. Those who use the smear of “racism” lightly only increase...

It was certainly uncouth of Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.) to scream, “You lie!” at his commander-in-chief in the middle of Barack Obama’s recent health-care speech before a joint session of Congress. And others who keep insisting that the president doesn’t have an authentic U.S. birth certificate clearly come off as unhinged — much like just-resigned White House green-jobs czar Van Jones does for having signed his name to a petition stating that the Bush administration may have allowed the 9/11 murders of 3,000 people to happen. During his speech the other night, the president calmly called for a new...

We would probably laugh out loud if a participant in a formal debate contest accused the other team of being racist. Why? Because it would be a clear indication the participant had no viable counter to the other team - a sure sign of defeat - and was using the charge at a hail mary attempt at humor. Yet I watch aghast at the spectacle of no less than Jimmy Carter accusing all people who have oppositions to Obama's policies of being racist. Of course Carter is not alone; he is in the company of many other Democratic politicians, columnists,...

Jimmy Carter's intervention in the winguts v. Obama controversy has raised the expected amount of dust--and I suppose the standard reaction is that "it's a good thing we're having this conversation," but I'm not so sure that it is. Since I was one of the early racism-shouters here on Swampland, and on the Chris Matthews show last Sunday, I probably should explain why "this conversation" is heading in the wrong direction. First of all, I tried to make it clear that I wasn't talking about classic white-black racism, though elements of that are present, to be sure. My sense of...